The city of Vicksburg,
was known as "queen city of the bluff," to its residents. To the
Union, it was the key to the river, and the last major Confederate stronghold.
The Union commander here was General Ulysses S. Grant (below left), also
known as "Unconditional surrender Grant," who was receiving help
from Admiral Porter (below right).

Grant knew that it would be
nearly impossible to attack Vicksburg as it stood, so he devise a plan
that would cut off the supply route to the city. Grant's plan was to march
his men along the river along the Lousiana shore at the same time Admiral
Porter was running his empty gun boats past Vicksburg.

They met south of the city
and Porter ferried Grant's troops across the river. After crossing the
river, Grant marched his troops to Jackson, the capital of Mississippi,
to take the city from General J.E. Johnston. The purpose of this was to
cut off the railroad and supplies to Vicksburg. He sent two generals,
McPherson and Sherman to begin his famous seige tactics on the city on
May 14. 1863.

After
taking Jackson, Grant advanced to Vicksburg. Meanwhile Conferate General
Pemberton (left) prepared troops to attack Grant's army in defense of
the city. This attack occured on May 16, two days after Jackson fell.
The battle was known as Champions hill, because the battle was located
on a plantation owned by the Champion family. It was half way between
Vicksburg and Jackson, where the Black River crosses the railroad to Vicksburg.
There was a total of 7,000 people there and the battle lasted from mid
morning to late afternoon. Then the fighting ended because Pemberton had
to retreat to defend vicksburg.

Vicksburg was a
highly fortified city on 200 foot bluffs that covered a three mile stretch
along the river. Grant and his troops attempted to attack Pemberton on May
19 and 22. On both occasions Grant retreated because of a lack of affective
offense. After these two failed attempt Grant began his siege on Vicksburg.
The citizens of Vicksburg faced many hardships during the siege.

The people realized that their
homes were unsafe so they began digging approximately 500 underground
caves. These caves were temporary homes, some of them smaller than a fireplace.
Many of the caves had several families packed together.

Artist's depiction of the Vicksburg caves.

Because food was scarce, the
people resorted to desperate measures such as eating mice and boiling
shoes. Federal soldiers gave Vicksburg the name Prairie Dog Village because
the people were popping up out the caves, much like prairie dogs coming
out of their holes.

There were many other stories
that told of the horrors that the people of the city suffered through.
Mark Twain once told of a man was shaking a friends hand when a shell
exploded. After the explosion, he was left holding a disembodied hand.

On July 3 Pemberton asked for
terms of surrender. Grant's terms were that Pemberton would surrender
and than Grant would feed the army and let the officers keep their fire
arms and personal belongings. The siege had lasted about six weeks ended
on July 4, when 29,500 Confederate troops marched out of Vicksburg and
laid down their arms while Union troops cheered them on. This was a disaster
for the Confederacy considering it followed another huge loss at Gettysburg.

With the fall of Vicksburg
the Mississippi River lay totally in Union hands. Over a span of almost
two years the Union had divided the CSA and cut off supplies, communications,
and a major transportation route. Because of this the Union held "the
country by the heart," and all the advantages that went along with
the mighty Mississippi.